It opened to the public on July 19, 2012. It closed only a few months after, in late October, when Hurricane Sandy swept through New York City and, well, huffed and puffed and blew its house down. We're speaking of the Space Shuttle Enterprise on the Intrepid aircraft carrier, of course, and the latest image showing progress on the reconstruction of the exhibit hints at exciting things to come.

Compare the construction of the new structure (above) to the old tent-like one (below). First observation? It's not a tent! Hallelujah, break out the champagne because now the exhibit may actually have a chance of surviving the next huge storm to hit NYC (knock on wood). Secondly, we notice increased space. Perhaps the single staircase to view the nose of the shuttle (through scratched plexi glass, mind you) will mercifully be replaced by an actual viewing platform? And perhaps it won't all feel like some temproary, low-budget exhibition, which is definitely is not.

Anyways, what we're trying to say here is that it may have taken a hurricane for the Intrepid to realize that their tent idea was crap, but at least they realized it at all.

Reopening date for the Enterprise pavilion? "Early summer 2013."

The Enterprise's "tent" enclosure of last summer

In related news, further south, the $100 Million Space Shuttle Atlantis Attraction is due to open on June 29 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Unlike the Enterprise, which is all closed up and can only be viewed from the floor and one staircase viewing platform, the Atlantis will have its cargo bay opened and welcome visitors to ogle it at all angles, from several levels. Cannot wait!

Comment (1)

Gets Me Angry

Every time I think about putting a Space Shuttle in New York, I get angry. New York has zero ties to the space industry.

Having a Shuttle in Florida was a given. And, the choice of LA is a good one when you consider that most of the aerospace technology of that period was created by companies in Southern California. The only other logical choice was Houston.

I get even more angry when I see the way the Enterprise is going to be displayed. Talk about boring.